Grandeur in Kent

Lee Priory 1903
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In a corner of Kent known with justification as the Garden of England stood the magnificent building known as Lee Priory. It saddens me so much that it no longer exists. In my childhood a Colonel Belcher resided there with his family and in their generosity they allowed we local children to have access to their own children's library. A gesture that awakened in me a lifelong love of books.
I remember the wide expanse of park that fronted this beautiful house where deer could be seen grazing. I could only imagine at the time the lifestyle of the people who lived there. But such memories were inflamed by the literature of the time that illustrated so vividly a life so far beyond the reach of those of us from humble country origins.
I can only thank them for giving me a brief insight into a lifestyle I would never know, and in an age where now the standards they set are being swiftly eroded who can be blamed for wishing we could take a backward step and really appreciate the quality of the life that political envy snatched away from them and us.